Media Contact: Steven Ovens - woodhullracewaypr@gmail.com or (315) 729-3825 For Immediate Release – July 18th, 2016 – Greg Mesler photo -
(WOODHULL, NY) – The saying goes that the third time is often the charm. For Billy Van Pelt on Saturday night, the third time was indeed the charm, as he would finally pick up a Jake Davis Memorial King of the Ring victory in his third final round appearance in the four years of the event.
Van Pelt had luck on his side as there was an odd number of cars to compete, and he drew the worst through the gates out of anyone. With the King of the Ring match races being set by the draw pill upon entering the pits, that gave Van Pelt the first round bye to go directly to round two.
The driver out of Westfield, PA narrowly advanced a hard-fought round with fan-favorite Kenny Peoples Jr. and then won another tough matchup with Boyd McTavish in the semi-finals. This would stage Van Pelt against Russell Morseman, who made several moves on the bottom side of the speedway that had the Woodhull crowd cheering.
That would set up a final round for the record books as it guaranteed a new winner in this great event to continue the streak of four different winners in four years of the event being held.
Van Pelt and Morseman were side by side for most of the first lap, but Van Pelt found some magic on lap two. He would streak across the line to win his first career Jake Davis Memorial King of the Ring over Morseman in his K&N Filters No. 44. Van Pelt would win a combined $1,000 for the win, while Morseman took home the second place prize of $250.
“My heart goes out to that family (Davis family),” said Van Pelt. “I just love Bobby right to death and it’s a real sad thing. But I am honored to be able to win this race here tonight. I’ve been real close a couple times, but to win it this time really means a lot.”